After the reading, Pam Bernard said, "How wonderful...to see first hand why this book emits such power. In the spirit of true grace, you have created something bigger than yourself, bigger than all of us, and sent it as a gift into the world. I was honored and humbled to be there among just a few of the amazing poets you have gathered." Carol Dine said, "A page in the anthology is like a leaf that has curled and died; beside it, a bud, greening." The other contributors were also quite complimentary towards After Shocks and its impact. Becky Thompson told me something that nearly knocked me over: "It's good to see a white editor publishing so much poetry by poets of color." She referred to the 14 African Americans, two Latinos, and 2 Native Americans included in the anthology.

Jennifer Barber, acting director of the poetry center, was our gracious host for the reading. Becky Thompson traveled all the way from Colorado Springs to read. Thanks to both of them for their efforts, and to all of the poets who read.

The Suffolk University Poetry Center is a lovely venue in case you're planning a reading.

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About Me

I am poetry series editor of Press 53, based in Winston-Salem, NC. I'm also editor of After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events. This anthology of poetry comprises 152 poems by 115 poets from 15 nations, all speaking the language of recovery. Chapters cover Grief, War, Exile, Bigotry, Divorce, Abuse, Illness, Injury, Addiction, and Loss of Innocence.
My poems have appeared in many journals in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and India, including Southern Poetry Review, Subtropics, Ambit, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, New York Quarterly, Kritya: A Journal for Our Time, Orbis, Salamander, Ars Medica, Pearl, Asheville Poetry Review, and others.
My essays, criticism, and other nonfiction have appeared in New Letters, North Carolina Literary Review, South Carolina Review, Chrysalis Reader, IEEE Spectrum, Leisure magazine and other publications.
I was the founding editor-in-chief of WebMD, the world’s most widely used health web site, and I live in Midtown Atlanta, where I work as a freelance medical editor. I have earned a B.S. from Carnegie-Mellon University, an M.S. from Ohio University, and an M.F.A. from Queens University of Charlotte.